On a snowy New England Sunday, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, a 40,000 square foot monument to children’s literature, rests atop frosted grounds nestled inside the Pioneer Valley. The decade-old museum offers several galleries full of picture book art, a children’s library, a café, a bookstore, and a performing arts space. Additionally, the building hosts a packed schedule of arts and literature-based activities for children as well as professional development workshops for educators.
A Very Hungry Caterpillar Car is parked at the entrance.
Galleries
As in a traditional art museum, curators have neatly mounted the featured pieces at eye level. However, the plaques displayed to the left of each illustration do not necessarily contain information about the artist. Rather, the plaques present a quotation from the text that the illustration elucidates. Benches in each gallery contain boxes of picture books connected to the displayed works, and many visitors go back and forth between looking at the walls of the gallery and browsing the picture books to locate the images in context.
A display of illustrations from a Caribbean retelling of Cinderella with text to the left and illustrations to the right.
Short blocks of text encourage close reading.
Illustrations illuminate the language of the story.
Unfortunately, visitors are unable to take photos in the main galleries due to issues with the preservation of the artwork; the images above were displayed in the children’s library in a smaller exhibit that featured digital prints from variations of “Cinderella” and “The Three Little Pigs”.
Reading Library
An incredible library of picture books sits at the back of the museum. Tables feature selected display books and accompanying activities.
Library Book on Display: Pezzenttino (Italian for “little piece”) is a small orange cube that searches for his place in the world.
Library Book on Display: Ganesha the Elephant breaks his tusk while chomping on candy, and he needs help from Vyasa the poet. An accompanying worksheet encourages the writing of an “epic” poem.
Printables from publisher’s websites accompanied both Pezzettino and Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth on the display table.
The Bookstore
Book lovers, leave your wallets at home! It’s a bibliophile’s heaven (or hell, if the bibliophile in question is low on funds).
A modern retelling of Strewwelpeter, a German cautionary tale
A volume from the “illustration school” series: step-by-step instructional manuals on how to draw really cute things
The Hungry Caterpillar Bookshelf
This attractive display case featured seasonal books.
Mission Accomplished!
The museum provides a space for anyone “interested in the art of the picture book”.
Literacy Changes Everything! 